Assembling Functional Modules to Form a Well Tool

ABSTRACT

To assemble a well tool, an inventory of plural different types of functional modules is maintained at an assembly location. An order for a well tool having a specified first application is received. In response to the order, a first combination of the plural types of functional modules from the inventory is assembled to form the well tool.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates generally to assembling a well tool using a selected arrangement of different types of functional modules.

BACKGROUND

Various types of well equipment are used for performing operations in a wellbore, such as wellbores for producing hydrocarbons, for producing water, or for injecting fluids into subterraneous structures. Example components of various types of well equipment include packers, gauges, flow control devices, and so forth.

Conventionally, a comprehensive inventory of components that make up different types of well equipment is not maintained by well service companies. The primary reason for not maintaining a comprehensive inventory of components is the cost of maintaining such inventory. There can be many different types of well tools that have different arrangements and types of components, resulting in a large variety of components. Having to keep such a large variety of components as inventory would result in increased expense. Typically, in response to orders for completion equipment from customers, well service companies compile a list of needed components, which are ordered in-house, from suppliers, or possibly from competitors. Usually, many of the ordered components are delivered to the field site where the components are needed. Assembly of the components is performed at the field site. Thus, if any problems are present in the components, and the well equipment fails to function, or if there is an issue that prevents the successful assembly of a well tool, then the well service company (or the customer of the well service company) will not be able to perform the desired well operation. Any inability to assemble property functioning well equipment can lead to down time at the field site, which can be costly for the well service company and its customer.

SUMMARY

In general, to assemble a well tool, an inventory of plural different types of functional modules is maintained at an assembly location. An order is received for a well tool having a specific application. In response to the order, at least some of the various types of functional modules from the inventory are assembled to form the well tool.

Other or alternative features will become apparent from the following description, from the drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate modular assemblies of functional modules to form different types of well tools, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a process of assembling functional modules to form different types of well tools in response to application-specific orders, in accordance to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these details and that numerous variations or modifications from the described embodiments are possible.

As used here, the terms “up” and “down”; “upper” and “lower”; “upwardly” and “downwardly”; “upstream” and “downstream”; “above” and “below” and other like terms indicating relative positions above or below a given point or element are used in this description to more clearly described some embodiments of the invention. However, when applied to equipment and methods for use in wells that are deviated or horizontal, such terms may refer to a left to right, right to left, or other relationship as appropriate.

FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate different well tools having varying configurations. FIG. 1A shows a well tool having a base configuration, while FIGS. 1B-1D illustrate well tools having the base configuration plus additional functional modules. Although the well tools of FIGS. 1A-1D share some common functional modules, the well tools are considered to be different well tools. As explained further below, such well tools can be assembled by a well service organization by selecting different arrangements of the functional modules to assemble, prior to delivery to a field site. A “well service organization” refers to any organization (whether a company or some unit of the company) that performs well services (which are services performed at a well). The well service organization can perform well services on behalf of a customer. The customer can be an external customer, or the customer can be a unit within the same company as the well service organization.

The base configuration of FIG. 1A is generally referred to as 100, where the base configuration 100 has an assembly of several functional modules, including a packer 102, a flow control valve 104, a mounting sub 106, and a handling sub 108. A “functional module” refers to any module that performs predefined task(s) in a wellbore, which can be a wellbore for producing hydrocarbons, for producing fresh water, or for injecting fluids into a subterranean structure. The functional modules depicted in FIGS. 1A-1D are provided for purposes of example, as different types of functional modules can be used in different implementations.

In the example, the flow control valve 104 is used to control flow of fluids in some part of the wellbore, and the packer 102 can be set in the wellbore to isolate different zones in the wellbore. In FIG. 1A, the packer 102 is connected to the flow control valve 104 by the mounting sub 106. The handling sub 108 is connected above the packer 102, where the handling sub 108 can be connected to a string (such as a tubing string or some other tool string) above the handling sub 108. FIG. 1A also depicts a pair of control lines 110 that extend through the packer 102 to the flow control valve 104. The control lines, which can be hydraulic control lines, electrical control lines, or fiber optic control lines, are used to control the flow control valve 104 to actuate the flow control valve 104 between open and closed positions (and any intermediate positions).

FIG. 1B shows a well tool having a second configuration 100A, in which the second configuration 100A is the base configuration 100 plus at least one additional functional module. In FIG. 1B, the additional functional module is a hydraulic control module 120 that is retained to the mounting sub 106 by a retainer 122. The retainer 122 is connected to a recess 124 in the flow control valve 104, and an attachment element on the mounting sub 106. Generally, the hydraulic control module 120 is an example of a functional module that can be added as an option to the base configuration 100 by attachment mechanism (including the retainer 122, for example).

By using the hydraulic control module 120, one or both of the hydraulic lines 110 of FIG. 1A can be omitted and replaced with a different type of control line (e.g., an electrical control line or fiber optic control line) 126 (FIG. 1B) that passes through the packer 102. The hydraulic control module 120 is connected to hydraulic lines 128 that are provided to the flow control valve 104 for actuating the flow control valve 104. In an alternative embodiment, the hydraulic control module 120 can be an electro-hydraulic control module. In the ensuing discussion, although reference is made to “hydraulic control module 120,” it is noted that the description applies equally to an electro-hydraulic control module. More generally, the module 120 can be referred to as a “control module,” where a control module can be any one of a hydraulic control module, an electro-hydraulic control module, or other type of control module.

FIG. 1C illustrates a third configuration 100B which is the base configuration 100 plus a sensor module 130 having one or more sensors. The sensor module 130 is also retained to the mounting sub 106 by the retainer 122. The sensor module 130 is connected to a control line (e.g., electrical or fiber optic control line) 132 that extends through the packer 102 and may also continue from the sensor module to the next component further down in the completion.

FIG. 1D shows another configuration 100C that is the base configuration 100 plus the hydraulic control module 120 and the sensor module 130, both mounted to the mounting sub 106 by the retainer 122.

Although specific example functional modules are provided above, it is noted that other types of functional modules can also be used, such as perforating guns, screen assemblies, fracturing tools, anchors, and so forth.

The various configurations 100, 100A, 100B and 100C are considered different well tools that provide different applications. The different applications can be specified in orders (purchase orders) received from customers. As noted above, a “customer” can refer to either an external customer (a different corporate entity from the well service organization, for example), or an internal customer that is part of the same corporate entity as the well service organization. One customer can request a well tool according to the base configuration 100, while other customers can request well tools according to any one of configurations 100A-100C.

Since the well tools are made up of a base configuration plus selected different options, a well service organization is able to maintain an inventory of functional modules in a relatively cost-effective manner to allow the well service organization to more quickly assemble the functional modules to form well tools in accordance to various configurations specified by customers. By maintaining an inventory of functional modules, the well services organization does not have to order such functional modules form a supplier after a customer order has been received, which allows for a reduction of the delay between receipt of a customer order and assembly of the well tool and delivery to the field site.

The modular approach to providing different configurations allows for the same functional modules to be used in different configurations to provide different well tools. As a result, a smaller inventory of functional modules can be used to provide a larger number of well tools according to different configurations. Maintaining a smaller inventory is associated with reduced cost.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a process of assembling functional modules to build a well tool in a build-to-order approach. Build-to-order refers to a purchase order fulfillment approach in which a well service organization is able to selectively add options (in the form of functional modules) to a base configuration, in response to the purchase order. The manufacturing of various functional modules are depicted as boxes 202, 204, 206, 208 and 210, which correspond to manufacturing of flow control valves, sensors, hydraulic control modules, packers, and mounting accessories (e.g., mounting sub 106 and handling sub 108 in FIGS. 1A-1D) respectively. The manufacturing of the various functional modules can be performed by one or more suppliers of the well services organization, by a competitor of the well service organization, and/or by units within the well service organization.

The manufactured functional modules are kept in an inventory (212). The inventory 212 is kept at an assembly location of the well service organization. The term “assembly location” refers to any location (or multiple locations) in which the well service organization assembles well tools.

At the assembly location, sub-assemblies can be pre-assembled. For example, one sub-assembly is the well tool according to the base configuration (100) in FIG. 1. Other configurations can be built from this base configuration, such as those depicted in FIGS. 1B-1D. Generally, a “sub-assembly” can refer to any assembly of two or more functional modules. The functional modules and any sub-assemblies can be pre-tested to ensure that the functional modules and sub-assemblies are functioning properly and also in order to save time at the customer's well site.

At some point, an application-specific order (214) is received by the well service organization, and more specifically, by an order processing system 216. In some embodiments, the order processing system 216 is an automated system in which software 218 is executable on a central processing unit (CPU) 220 that is connected to memory 222 (e.g., volatile memory or persistent storage devices such as disk-base storage devices). Alternatively, instead of an automated order processing system, the order processing system 216 can be a manual order processing system, such as a call center to receive orders from customers.

Different orders from different customers can specify different applications that correspond to well tools according to different configurations. In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, these orders for different applications can be efficiently fulfilled by adding functional modules as options to a base configuration (or even just providing the base configuration itself) to provide the different configurations. By maintaining the inventory 212 of functional modules, orders can be fulfilled relatively quickly, since the functional modules are readily available at the assembly location and do not have to be ordered from third-party suppliers, which can add delays of days or weeks to fulfill orders. Also, using the modular approach, the variety of functional modules that have to be kept in inventory 212 is reduced to achieve cost savings (maintaining a larger inventory of functional modules leads to increased costs, including storage costs and capital costs).

To fulfill a specific order, a well tool according to a specific application (such as a flow control system in accordance with the configurations illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D) is assembled (at 224). Note that in other implementations, other types of well tools can be assembled. The assembled flow control system is then tested (at 226). Note that the assembly (224) and testing (226) can be performed at the assembly location prior to delivery of the assembled well tool to a remote location (a location that is remotely located from the assembly location). This ensures that the assembled well tool is functioning properly to reduce the likelihood of failure of a well tool delivered to a remote location, which can lead to increased costs and dissatisfied customers.

In addition to reducing the likelihood of non-functioning well tools deployed to a remote location, testing of the assembled well tool and sub-assemblies at the assembly location can benefit from the use of more sophisticated and comprehensive test equipment at the assembly location. Normally, such sophisticated and comprehensive test equipment is unlikely to be present at field locations due to the expense of such test equipment. In addition to superior test equipment, more extensive test procedures are likely to be followed at the assembly location than at a field location, which increases the likelihood of detecting failures in the assembled well tool. Thus, in accordance with some embodiments, by assembling and testing well tools at the manufacturing level (at the assembly location), reliability of the well tools is enhanced. Moreover, pre-assembly of well tools leads to decreased deployment times at the job site, which further increases efficiencies and reduces costs.

Following successful testing, the flow control system is transferred (at 228) to a field location or alternatively, to a customer well site (230). Note that the field location and customer well site (or job site) can be the same location.

While the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this present invention. 

1. A method of assembling a well tool, comprising: maintaining, at an assembly location, an inventory of plural different types of functional modules; receiving an order for a well tool having a specified first application; and assembling, at the assembly location and in response to the order, a first combination of the plural types of functional modules from the inventory to form the well tool.
 2. The method of claim 1, farther comprising delivering the well tool from the assembly location to a remote location.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: prior to delivering the well tool to the remote location, performing testing of the well tool at the assembly location after assembly.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein testing the well tool at the assembly location is performed using test equipment typically not available at the remote location.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein testing the well tool at the assembly location follows a test procedure typically not followed at the remote location.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second order for another well tool having a specified second application; assembling, at the assembly location and in response to the second order, a second, different combination of the plural types of functional modules from the inventory to form the another well tool.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first combination forms a base configuration, and wherein assembling the second combination comprises adding at least one additional functional module to the base configuration.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: receiving a third order for a third well tool having a specified third application; assembling, at the assembly location and in response to the third order, a third, different combination of the plural types of functional modules from the inventory to form the third well tool, wherein the third combination comprises the base configuration and at least one other functional module different from the additional functional module of the second combination.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the order comprises receiving the order at an order processing system.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the order and assembling the well tool are performed using a build-to-order approach in which orders for different well tools are fulfilled by providing a base configuration and adding the plural types of functional modules as options to the base configuration to provide the different well tools.
 11. A method comprising: providing a base configuration of functional modules, wherein the base configuration provides a first function in a wellbore; and selectively adding different functional modules to the base configuration depending on different corresponding applications to form different corresponding well tools.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: receiving orders specifying the different corresponding applications; and assembling, at an assembly location, the different corresponding well tools in response to the orders.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising testing, at the assembly location, assembled well tools prior to delivering the well tools to respective one or more remote locations.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein providing the base configuration comprises providing the base configuration having a flow control valve and a packer, and wherein selectively adding different functional modules to the base configuration comprises adding one or more of a control module, a sensor module, a perforating gun, a screen assembly, a fracturing tool, and an anchor.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein adding the control module comprises adding one of a hydraulic control module and an electro-hydraulic control module.
 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising maintaining an inventory of the functional modules at an assembly location, wherein selectively adding different functional modules to the base configuration is performed at the assembly location prior to deployment of the well tools to one or more remote locations.
 17. An apparatus comprising: a modular completion equipment having a base configuration to perform at least a function in the well, wherein the base configuration has plural functional modules, the plural functional modules including at least one of a flow control value and a packer, wherein the base configuration has at least one attachment mechanism to enable addition of at least one other functional module to the base configuration.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the modular completion equipment is configurable to plural different configurations by adding different combinations of functional modules, wherein the plural different configurations correspond to different well tools. 